Empath
by ReadingRaven019
Summary: This is a story about Raven and her journey of receiving her new power. How she learns to become an empath. Starts out as a kind of RaeXRob story but evolves into a BBXRae story. Takes place soon after The End.
1. Chapter 1

**Takes place soon after The End. Promise it's not a RobXRae story. It will be a BBXRae story eventually. So if you're a BBXRae fan keep reading. It'll get there.**

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Chapter One

An hour before the sun was to rise, Raven was awake and stargazing on the roof. Again. Nightmares had recently become frequent, waking her up and not allowing her to fall asleep again. She couldn't ever remember the dreams, but the terrifying feeling stuck with her. Looking at the stars always calmed her. Even though she liked dark stuff, the sunrises were always beautiful to her as well. And so she didn't mind the nightmares as much and assumed they would eventually go away. She even looked forward to watching the sun rise to begin her day.

Another Titan woke and joined Raven on the roof. Robin had woken at the usual time he did but because of his connection with Raven, he sensed she was awake and stargazing, again. This had been going on for nearly a week now. Raven's nightmares and Robin joining her to watch the sun rise.

"Nightmare again?" Robin said as he walked up next to her.

Raven just nodded her head.

"You really don't remember what they're about?"

Raven shook her head.

"I'm getting worried. It's been nearly a week. Something might be wrong."

"It's fine Robin."

Robin gave her a skeptical look.

Raven rolled her eyes at him. "If they don't stop in another week, then we'll assume something is wrong and study my brainwaves as I sleep alright."

Robin sighed and shook his head, but silently complied.

They sat in silence as the sun started to rise.

"This is why I wake up so early," Robin said watching the particularly beautiful sunrise.

"Really?" Raven asked surprised looking at him.

"Well, this and I can't sleep past six if I try," he replied as he smiled at her.

Raven was about to reply but forgot when she realized it wasn't the sunset she was looking forward to seeing every morning. It was Robin.

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After the sun rise Robin left to make himself breakfast before he did his daily routine of workout and training. Raven stayed put, still shocked with her own realization that she might like Robin more than a friend. They had that special connection and he knew her better than anyone. They already cared deeply for each other and maybe there was something _there_.

Raven closed her eyes and calmed herself. She shook off this possibility that she might love him and he her and went to the commons area. Robin was already finishing his breakfast and Starfire was awake as well making her own Tamaranian breakfast while she talked to Robin. Cyborg walked in next with a tired yawn and Robin walked out to workout. Raven read until Beast Boy burst in loudly whistling a happy tune and strutting into the kitchen. Raven was too distracted by his to continue reading and was about to return to her room to read when the alarm went off making Beast Boy jump and drop his tofu breakfast.

They all ran to the monitor to see what the trouble was. This time it was Cinderblock. Again. This time causing havoc in a jewelry store.

"Who let this guy out. Again." Beast Boy complained.

Cyborg shrugged in response and they all left for what they thought would be the usual tumble with Cinderblock.

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They arrived to find cars smashed and the whole front of the jewelry store shattered on the ground. Cinderblock was clumsily gathering diamonds and ruby's in a large bag. He stopped when he saw the Titans coming towards him. When Cinderblock turned toward them to fight, the titans noticed something different that made them stop in their tracks. Some sort of strange writing or symbol was on the front of his chest in a dark green color. Raven sensed something foreign. Something that made her stomach turn, but could find no cause for it. The feeling disappeared and all attention was on the symbol on Cinderblocks chest.

"What is that?" Robin asked.

Everyone looked at Raven.

Raven shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, but I will find out after this is over."

Robin gave a nod and they attacked.

Starfire picked up a whole display case of jewels and threw it at Cinderblock. Cinderblock caught it to their surprise and threw it back at Raven. Raven stopped it in mid-air and placed it back down. Cyborg shot at Cinderblock but it bounced off his chest where the symbol was and sent a pillar crashing down. Robin then threw a small bomb at Cinderblocks feet immersing him in fire and smoke. When the smoke cleared, Cinderblock stood unharmed. Beast Boy transformed into a Gorilla and threw a large piece of the smashed up pillar at Cinderblock. Again Cinderblock caught it with his new found dexterity and tossed it back at Starfire. Starfire was hit and sent flying into the wall.

"Starfire," Robin cried running to her aid.

Then things got weird.

Cinderblock began glowing a bright red that moved down his arm into his hand. He raised his arm and discharged the red energy directly at Raven. Raven barely had time to understand she was in danger when she was hit.

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**That's the first chapter. I know that a lot hasn't been explained, but it'll remain that way for awhile. Hope you keep reading. Reviews would be nice, but whatever. **


	2. Chapter 2

**The next installment. BBXRae fans, buckle up, but after this all the Robin crap will be done with. if your a RobXRae fan you may not want to read further. Please no bashing. Thank you, much appreciated. Hope you like it.**

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Chapter Two

Raven woke up in the medical bay dazed and confused, white lights blinding her.

"You're awake," she heard someone say with relief.

She sat up painfully and saw the whole team standing around her, smiling with relief on their faces. Raven cupped the side of her head with one hand, a headache was raging, her whole body sore.

"Lay down," Cyborg said gently pushing her back down realizing she was still in pain. Looks of worry spread to all of them.

"What happened?" Raven asked not really remembering how she got there.

"It was Cinderblock," Robin started explaining. "That symbol or whatever it was, it gave him some sort of power. He hit you with some sort of red energy and well…"

"We took him down soon after that, but it was too easy. It was like he gave up," Cyborg said.

"Or did what he was sent to do," Robin theorized.

"That symbol, did you get a picture of it?" Raven asked.

"Yes, but we'll do our best to find out what it is. When your better you can look through all your books for the meaning. In the meantime, get some rest." Robin said putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

Raven smiled and closed her eyes. The Titans left quietly, but Raven was asleep before the door even closed.

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When Raven woke up again, almost all the pain was gone, healing powers doing most of the work. She sat up and looked around. It was empty, but a strange feeling was coming. Stronger and stronger. Something Raven had never felt before. And as quickly as it came, it was gone. A few seconds later the door opened revealing Beast Boy with a sad look on his face. He nearly screamed when he saw Raven looking at him.

"Your awake!" Beast Boy said surprised.

Raven looked at him questioningly.

Beast Boy walked closer. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," she replied. Raven then noticed Beast Boy's hands were behind his back. Hiding something. "What are you hiding?" Raven asked raising one eyebrow.

Beast Boy stiffened and gave a nervous laugh. "It's nothing, you see I was just thinking that maybe you would like a cup of your herbal tea that you like so much," he said producing a steaming mug.

"Oh," Raven said surprised.

She took the cup from him and took a sip. It had a slight taste of Fritos, but was close enough to the real thing.

"Thank you Beast Boy."

Beast Boy beamed.

Raven swung her feet over the side of the bed and stood up.

"What are you doing!" Beast Boy cried.

"I'm going to see if I can figure out what that symbol means." She said walking out the door.

Beast Boy followed. "Are you sure you're feeling well enough? Do you feel light headed? Nauseous? Feverish? Or maybe yo-"

"Beast Boy," Raven interrupted. "I'm fine."

He shut up, but continued to follow her with a watchful eye. Raven rolled her eyes and went to find Robin.

He was in the Commons looking up stuff on the computer. Cyborg saw Raven first and gave her a big smile.

"Good to see you up and about little lady," Cyborg said cheerfully.

Starfire nearly tackled her as she gave her one of her bone crushing hugs. "I am so very glad you are okay!"

Robin turned around and smiled.

"So where's the picture of the symbol," Raven asked after reassuring everyone she was fine.

Robin walked up to her and handed her a piece of paper with the symbol. "We haven't found anything yet, but maybe you'll have better luck."

Raven nodded and gave her farewells as she left for her room.

…...

Raven stared at the symbol for a long time, wracking her brain for any trace of recognition. It seemed almost familiar, but she couldn't seem to think of as to why that was. She looked in her oldest books about spells and curses first, but without knowing what the green substance was made of, it was impossible to figure out if it was even related to any of them. She then tried her ancient language books to see if the writings were similar to try and figure out it's origin. Nothing. Before she knew it she had already gone through a quarter of her books without finding anything. She didn't even realize how much time had passed until a knock came at her door.

She opened the door and found Robin standing there with a slightly worried look on his face. Raven blushed slightly.

"How you doing?" He asked with a small smile.

"I feel a lot better thanks." Raven replied.

"Any luck with the symbol?" Robin asked.

Raven frowned. "No, not yet. I still have a lot of books to go through, but nothing in the books I would think most likely to lead to something. But…"

"But what?"

"I feel like I recognize this symbol somehow. Seen it somewhere, something, I just can't remember." Raven said turning away from him and looking at the picture of the symbol.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out. You always pull through." Robin said encouragingly laying a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

Raven smiled for a second and turned around. "There's something else."

"What is it?" He asked tensing a little, preparing for the worst.

"I had this feeling when we showed up to stop Cinderblock. I've never felt anything like it before. It scared me."

"I don't understand," Robin said relaxing slightly.

"I felt, I don't even understand it, but it felt like it was coming from something, some_one_. I think this, the symbol and this feeling, I think it's something bigger than we realize."

"Well whatever it is, we'll figure it out." Robin said confidently, walking towards her. Raven blushed deeper.

Silence came and Raven tensed. Robin was looking at her in a different way. A way Raven recognized as being the look he only gave Starfire. He leaned in closer. Raven froze. He was coming closer and closer, Raven instinctively put up a hand and stopped him before their lips touched.

"What are you doing?" Raven said in a small voice. "What about Starfire?"

Robin backed away confused, hand holding his head. "I don't know what came over me. I…" He looked back at Raven and shook his head. "I'm so confused."

"You do still love Starfire, don't you?" Raven asked.

"Yes, of course, but-"

"Then this never happened," Raven said sharply.

Robin looked at her a little longer before retreating, and leaving her room. Raven breathed shakily. Confused by her feelings and his. She had thought she wanted to be with him, that she might love him, but now she wasn't so sure. Sure, there was Starfire to think about, but even with that not being an issue, Raven wasn't so sure she love him more than a brother. Then why had she almost allowed him to kiss her. Why was he showing these feelings when they both knew he never would. Not while he was still in love with Starfire. Then why?

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** Phew. glad that's over. now for the BBXRae stuff. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry It's been a while. It's the end of term this week and I've had a lot to do. plus there was something wrong with the website and it wouldn't let me do anything. **

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Chapter Three

The next day the headaches began. Raven was in the commons area with the rest of the Titans. Robin was sitting back quietly, glancing around, still looking rather confused. Cyborg was making _something _out of gears and bits of metal. He'd been working on it for almost a week now. Beast Boy was looking over Cyborg's shoulder trying to figure out what he was doing. Starfire was happy as usual making one of her own Tamaranian dishes that she would force everyone to try. This dish was particularly…goopy, and sloshed around in a large bowl as she mixed in what can only be described as orange.

Beast Boy, quickly losing interest in the confusing robotics of what Cyborg was doing, walked over to Raven.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

Raven looked up at him. "What do you think I am doing?" Raven said slightly annoyed. Books surrounded her and she was holding the picture of the symbol in her hand.

"Can I help?" he asked ignoring her comment.

"Not unless you can read ancient Sanskrit."

He reached for one of the books. "Well, I could look for pictures."

He flipped through the pages of one of the books holding it sideways. Raven tried pulling it back from him.

"These are the kind of books with lots of pictures Beast Boy." She said, anger swelling in her chest as she struggled to retrieve the book Beast Boy was clinging onto.

"Please?" said leaning back and holding with both hands. Raven using her powers at this point.

"No!" Raven yelled sending Beast Boy flying across the room and into Starfire and her strange Tamaranian glop. The glop flew and landed directly on Cyborg's Project. Anger still pumped in Raven's veins.

Starfire looked at Beast Boy with a death glare, Cyborg screamed in frustration, throwing his project on the ground.

Cyborg stood up and walked up to Beast Boy. "You have to mess up everything don't you!" Cyborg yelled.

"He didn't mean to," Starfire said trying to calm him down.

"If it wasn't for your stupid Tamaranian trash, my project would be fine!" Cyborg lashed out at her. Robin had been watching up until that point, then started in the blame game with the rest of the team when Cyborg yelled at Starfire.

Things continued to escalate. Everyone filled with anger. Raven, realizing she was still angry focused on calming herself down enough to calm everyone else down and stop the useless fighting. With each inhale and exhale, she became calmer and calmer until all anger was erased from her mind. When she finished she opened her eyes to find everyone had already stopped fighting. They were calm themselves, cleaning up the mess silently.

Raven knew something wasn't right. Raven quietly backed out of the room shaken and disturbed by her suspicions.

Back in her room, Raven was trying to concentrate on deciphering the symbol. After realizing she was only looking at the pages passively instead of actively searching, she closed the books and tried meditating. As she did her thoughts meditated on all the strange things she had been experiencing recently to try and figure out what was happening.

The first incident she could remember was the strange and unpleasant feeling she got just before they fought Cinderblock. She felt something strange just before Robin came to see her, and then there was the almost incident with Robin and what had just happened in the commons. Her thoughts circled and circled. Theories arose and fell. She lingered on the incident with Robin, how they had almost… Raven stood up resolutely and walked out of her room.

A knock came at Starfire's door later that day. Starfire answered the door to find Raven standing there calmly. She looked very out of place in contrast to the pink/purple room.

"Raven!" Starfire said calmly but with a large and sincere smile. "What brings you to my room?"

Raven cast her eyes down and fidgeted a little. "Can we talk?" She said making eye contact.

Starfire nodded and let Raven enter her room. Starfire felt a little worried because Raven had never willingly come to her to talk for much of any reason. It usually took a lot of convincing, yet here she was in her room. She was happy to see her as she was happy to see everyone else, but something told her Raven wasn't there to paint fingernails or talk about boys.

Starfire sat in the middle of her bed, Raven perching on the edge.

"What did you wish to talk about?" Starfire asked hesitantly.

Raven looked glum now, not hiding her emotions. "I need your help."

Starfire moved closer to her so she could look at her better. "Please, how may I assist you?"

"You know more about emotions than anyone I've ever known. I thought since you know so much about emotions that maybe you could help me sort out mine." Raven said. Starfire sat still, listening.

Raven took a deep breath and sighed. "Starfire, something happened today. Something I can't explain. Whatever it was, well… I … Robin almost kissed me, and… I almost let him." Starfire remained silent. "It wasn't his fault, it was mine, I know I did something… Starfire…he still loves you, I know he does. Neither of us know what happened, but don't let this come between you two. I just felt I should tell you because I did want to kiss him. A that moment I thought I was going to get what I wanted, but then you came to mind and I couldn't let it happen. And then I realized I didn't want that. Does that make any sense? I'm so confused."

Starfire had remained perfectly still but now reached out a reassuring hand on Ravens shoulder. "You and Robin are very close, we all know that. Perhaps you both got confused on where that closeness ends. I trust you and Robin. I believe you if you tell me that nothing happened and that nothing will happen again. I'm sure you will also figure everything out."

"Thank you Starfire." Raven said as they embraced each other in a mutual hug. "Nothing will ever happen between us. I promise. And if it does, you have permission to kill me." They both laughed a little.

"I'm just glad I could help." Starfire said as Raven got up to leave. "Would you like to paint each other's nails?"

"Not today, maybe later." Raven said as kindly as she could with a light smile. She walked out of the room feeling closer to Starfire than before.

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**Not the best chapter, but oh well. next one will be better I think. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Heres the latest installment. enjoy!**

Chapter Four

That night, Raven's mind was filled with the same nightmare, but as the night went on, the nightmare increased in it's horror and ferocity. She woke up because of it earlier than the previous nightmares had caused. Sweat covered her whole body, heart pounding. She got up, body sore and took a shower. Only after she finished getting dressed again did her heart finally start to slow. The clock said it was three a.m. She tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't calm her mind enough. She finally got up after struggling to sleep and went to make breakfast. Or in her case herbal tea. She finished her cup and went back to her room. Again she tried sleeping, but still couldn't let herself. She read until the sun was already up. Then she went into the commons area to find everyone awake and doing whatever it was they did in the mornings.

She sat at the kitchen table where Starfire, Beast Boy and Robin were already sitting. Cyborg was cooking this morning.

"No nightmares?" Robin asked.

Raven sighed. "Actually it was worse. I woke up at three and couldn't sleep."

"So they are getting worse…" Robin said thoughtfully.

"Nightmares?" Beast Boy inquired.

"I've been getting these nightmares recently, but I'm sure-" Raven was cut off.

"No, they're not going away Raven, we need to look into this." Robin said.

"We agreed on another week."

"But they're getting worse."

"Raven," Beast Boy jumped in with a worried face. "We should look into this if it's interrupting your sleep."

"I'm fine."

Cyborg had just walked over placing steaming plates of warm eggs and sausage. He also had a small plate of tofu that he placed in front of Beast Boy. Cyborg sat down next to Raven with this plate stuffed with five times the amount of food on everyone elses plate.

"I don't know Raven, from what I heard over there, It sounds like this will only continue to get worse." Cyborg said stuffing a sausage in his mouth. Starfire nodded in agreement.

Raven sighed in defeat. "Tonight, if I wake up again, we'll look into it. Deal?"

Robin nodded and started eating his breakfast. Raven looked at her plate. The eggs and the sausage were placed in a way to make it look like there was a person smiling at you. She started with the sausage that made the smile. Then the alarm went off.

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The Titans found themselves in the middle of a street in Jump city fighting Plasmus, the same strange symbol upon his chest.

"You sure you didn't find anything?" Cyborg asked Raven. As blasts of red energy shot freely from plasmuses mouth.

Raven was too busy dodging these red beams to answer him. Robin tried explosives, Cyborg tried his sonic blast. Starfire tried her star bolts, but nothing would stop him as normal, but they seemed to have an even lesser effect than normal.

Raven was overcome with the same feeling she had felt with Cinderblock. It felt like anger, but somehow detached. It didn't vanish this time. It distracted her with how strong the feeling was. She was so distracted she didn't even notice the car flying toward her that Plasmus had thrown. Beast Boy, noticing she wasn't moving out of the way jumped between her and the car and stopped it as the Beast.

"You okay Rae?' Beast Boy asked after moving her behind a building.

"Somethings not right…" She couldn't explain what was happening to herself or to Beast Boy.

"What? What's not right?"

Raven only shook her head. Then it suddenly went away. Her head was clear again. She sat in lotus position and projected her soul-self out from her body. It found it's way to Plasmus and entered his body. She quickly made him fall asleep before returning to her own body. She ended it as she had before, but while inside of Plasmus, something felt different than it usually did. She couldn't place her finger on it though.

Beast Boy gave her a suspicious look before they rejoined their friends.

"Good work, Raven" Robin said. Cyborg gave her a high five as Starfire swayed in the air with joy. "We still need to figure out what that symbol means. "Robin reminded them all, sobering them up from the victory.

"I'll meet you guys back at the tower," Raven said and teleported away.

She immediately went to her books and searched with a new vigor, but the symbol was not the only thing she was searching for. She was also looking for an answer as to what has been happening around her and to her. The strange behavior of her friends, the weird feelings, they all had to mean something, and she was going to find out what.

An hour later a knock came at her door. Beast Boy stood there with a plate of pizza.

"We went out for pizza. Thought you might like some." He said holding out the plate.

Raven took it realizing she was hungry. "Thanks." Another wave of strange feelings came over her. Different from the previous ones. Strong, powerful, but gentle.

Beast Boy was already walking away and with each step he took, the feeling went dimmer and dimmer until it was gone. She felt closer to her answer, but couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she was close. She could feel it.

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She stayed up late into the night focusing her energies on finding the answer to what was happening to her, and ignoring the symbol completely. Exhaustion came, but she ignored it. The answer had to be somewhere.

Finally, around one in the morning, she found the answer. It was in one of the books Azar had given her. A book about creatures and their powers. In the section about demons, she found what she had been looking for. Empathy: the power to feel one's emotions and control them.

Raven's mind couldn't handle the thought that she may be controlling her friends, she couldn't manage thinking of what it all meant. Not in her exhausted condition so she went to sleep, thoughts haunting her last moments of consciousness

**I hope you liked the BBXRAE moments. next chapter it'll get really good. promise. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry it's been a while. Just haven't gotten around to it I suppose.**

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Chapter Five

That night, the nightmare was even worse. Raven woke up screaming, covered in cold sweat and heart beating faster than last time. But not only she woke up screaming. The whole team woke with fear in the hearts that carried over from Raven's own fear. They all ran to Ravens room, feeling the same fear she was feeling. They couldn't explain why they felt the way they felt, but they knew Raven needed help.

"Raven? Open up!" Robin yelled, slamming his fist on the door. The other Titans behind him.

They heard a crash, this caused a spike in their panick and Robin signaled for Cyborg to break down the door. The door fell to the ground with a loud crash. They looked in to find a shaking Raven sitting on the edge of her bed trying to stand, a broken lamp laying on the floor.

"What just happened?" Beast Boy asked her, the other Titans waiting for an answer as well.

Raven knew that she had accidentally used her new power and transferred the fear she was feeling onto them as well, but something kept her from telling them. "I don't know. I…" She didn't know how to explain it, so she decided to keep quiet as much as possible.

"We're not going to ignore your nightmares anymore. To the med bay." Robin demanded. "Now."

The Titans had attributed their shared fear that woke them up so abruptly to the same thing that was causing Raven's nightmares. Raven encouraged this belief as much as she could. Raven didn't argue and secretly was really worried about these dreams and their effects on her. She walked to the Medical Wing trying to compose herself. There was so much to think about, the nightmares being somewhere near the bottom of the list. At the very top was her new powers. She sat on the white hospital bed. Robin interrogated her with questions about the nightmares. The other questions for herself would have to wait.

"You really don't remember what they're about?" He asked first.

Raven shook her head.

"Do you have any ideas as to what's causing them?" Another Titan asked.

Raven shook her head again.

They continued questioning her, but she gave no answers. She truly didn't know. Only a theory that they were somehow related to her new powers, she just didn't know how exactly.

Eventually they left her alone to rest after attaching something to her head to take her brain impulses.

Now she could think.

_How long have I had these powers? I could have been controlling them this whole time. They may be reacting to things differently than they really would if I weren't here. Maybe their feelings aren't real for me. They may never have let me on the team if I weren't controlling them. __How am I going to control myself so they can live as they would? _

So many questions, so few answers. She continued with her thoughts going round and round, asking the same questions of herself. She was interrupted when Cyborg and Starfire entered with breakfast.

"Thought you might be hungry," Cyborg said placing the tray on the side table.

Raven didn't look at them.

"Robin says you should try to sleep so that we might be able to analyze your waves." Starfire said with a sad smile.

Raven nodded slightly, still avoiding their eyes. Cyborg gestured Starfire to leave and sat down next to Raven.

"What's wrong?" Cyborg asked.

"Nothing." Raven replied looking away.

"Don't think we can't tell that something is seriously bothering you. We know you too well."

"It's just this nightmare getting to me is all," She said looking at him with a small sad smile.

Cyborg didn't seem totally convinced, but placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and left.

Raven didn't touch the breakfast left for her. Instead she tried to sleep. She was actually very tired. She couldn't though. Not yet.

Starfire entered again a short time later.

"I came to see if you fell asleep yet." Starfire said softly.

"I tried," Raven said.

"Do not worry friend. We will solve your nightmare and your emotions." She said cheerfully.

"Thanks Starfire."

"You know you can always talk to me if you need to," Starfire assured.

"I know," Raven said giving her a sad smile as well.

She left after giving Raven a soft hug.

Again Raven tried to sleep, but still, nothing.

A while later Robin entered. A frown on his face.

"Your not sleeping," He pointed out.

"I can't," Raven explained.

"Do you need a sedative?"

"No, just time."

He nodded.

"Find anything about dreams?" Raven asked halfheartedly.

"No, not yet. I'm not quite sure where to begin. The only thing I can come up with is suppressed emotions or problems your not dealing with. Could that-"

"No." Raven said cutting him off. She actually wasn't so sure. That could perhaps be caused by her new powers, but it still wouldn't explain everything like why she couldn't remember anything about the dreams or why they were nightmares in the first place.

Robin studied her. Trying to find any trace of an answer on her face. Eventually he turned away. "If your not asleep in two hours I'll give you a sedative," And like that he was gone.

She was starting to calm down enough for sleep, but another wave of emotions swept over her, becoming stronger. The same feeling she got when Beast Boy dropped off some leftover pizza the other day. Then Beast Boy entered the room cautiously in case she was sleeping. When he saw her staring back at him, he stood up straight and put a silly smile on his face as he walked up to her.

_What now_, was the thought that ran through Raven's head.

"Hi Rae," he said. "I have a present for you."

Raven tensed. She couldn't take anything from her friends. She couldn't allow them to do anything for her. Not when it might be against their will. "No. I don't want it."

Beast boy frowned. "You don't even know what it is."

"I know, but whatever it is-" Raven stopped when he brought out.

It was a small green dream-catcher. Nothing much, but the circle with the intricate weaving was smaller than the size of her palm and two feathers hung from two leather ropes, with simple beads.

"I thought that maybe it might catch that nightmare you keep having," He said putting it in her hand.

He walked away looking slightly hurt. Raven stared after him in disbelief. It was thoughtful and sweet. That feeling that Beast Boy came with remained long after he was gone. She placed the dream catcher next to her pillow. She loved it even if Beast Boy wouldn't have gotten it for her normally. She prayed it would help as she closed her eyes and sleep overcame her.

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** Not a lot of action, but whatever. I think it's cute. Of course I would, I wrote the story.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry it's been a while. School keeps me busy, but it's basically over now. Thanks for sticking with me!**

Chapter Six

Robin and Cyborg entered the Medical Bay to find Raven sleeping peacefully. They looked at her brainwaves and found nothing strange. Starfire and Beast Boy joined them later, waiting for anything to happen. Beast Boy smiled when he noticed the dream cacher laying nicely beside her. Little did he know that it was actually working. Her nightmare was being kept at bay by the little green dream catcher.

The forces that were giving her the nightmares were powerful. More so than the simple magic of the dream catcher, but the dream catcher held for a long time until the force was too great and one of the thin threads snapped, and the nightmare overtook Raven's dreams.

Beast Boy noticed the broken twine and picked it up with a frown. Not much later, Raven started tensing and twitching. Her brainwaves started to become a little more irregular and sharp.

"What's going on?" Robin asked Cyborg as they hunched over a computer.

"I have no idea." Cyborg replied, watching the brainwaves get worse and worse. "Whatever this is, it's no ordinary nightmare."

"This is worse than I thought. I think this is someone else's doing." Robin said with anger. His face contorted in anger. "Wake her up."

Starfire shook Raven lightly. She didn't wake up. Starfire shook her harder. Still nothing. "RAVEN!" She yelled in her ear. Nothing. Nada. Zip. "She will not awaken."

Robin walked over to her. "What is going on." He said softly to himself almost asking Raven.

Cyborg came over as well and shined a small light into each of her eyes as he lifted her lid. "Unresponsive." He stated.

"Is there nothing we can do?" Starfire asked.

Everyone looked to Robin for answers. This was one of those leadership moments Robin hated. The moment he was supposed to be strong and know all the answers, but didn't. He was really wishing he'd made Raven look into the nightmares sooner. Since it was impossible to change the past, he thought of what Raven would do. "We go to the bookstore."

The Titans looked at him in disbelief.

"How's that going to help? Raven needs help now." Cyborg argued.

"What else would you have me do?" Robin asked. "I just know it's what Raven would do. We'll go to one of those magic bookstores she always goes to and see if they have anything about dreams or nightmares. I have a feeling this has something to do with the supernatural."

The others sat and thought of another alternatives, but couldn't come up with anything. They all nodded in agreement.

"Who will watch over Raven?" Starfire pointed out.

"I will," Beast Boy volunteered a little too quickly. The others looked at him. "I'm no help in a bookstore." He said, which was true enough. The others shrugged and left. Beast boy sat down on a chair next to Raven. He held one of her hands as she struggled against the war going on inside her mind.

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Robin was right in the way that this was no ordinary nightmare. It definitely had to do with the supernatural, but he was wrong about the bookstore. They found nothing useful in any of the stores Raven usually frequented. Raven was their best researcher when it came to these sorts of things, but she couldn't help herself at the moment.

They walked out of the last bookstore depleted and depressed, but all their work wasn't for nothing. Right across from the last bookstore was a voodoo store. A place they naturally assumed Raven may have visited at some point. As a last effort, they trudged across the street to the store to seek advice.

Inside the small dark shop was bottles and strange ingredients necessary for voodoo or many other magic's as well. A strange smell became stronger and stronger the further into the store they went. Starfire definitely felt out of place and very creeped out by dried geckos, bat wings, and shrunken heads. A smoke, almost a mist, made things harder to see in the already dark store. At the very back of the store was the cashier's table. A wooden door led to a back room where the only light seemed to come from. The door opened wider revealing a short pale teenager with black hair and seemingly black eyes. He wore a tuxedo which seemed very out of place, but matched his hair and eyes perfectly.

"How may I help you?" He asked with a strange smile.

"We were wondering if you had any information about dreams. Nightmares to be exact," Robin explained.

The pale teenager's smile widened before disappearing with his words. "I know some things about them. Yes. What do you wish to know?"

"Is there a way to…give someone a nightmare. You know, with magic?" Cyborg said cautiously and somewhat skeptically.

The young man thought for a second, placing a thin finger on his chin and looking upwards. "Well," he said returning to his previous position, "yes. I suppose there is."

The Titans straightened. This was the best lead they had received so far.

"Who could do that?" Robin asked.

"Well, let's see. I guess anyone whose trained in black magic. You know, voodoo, witches, warlocks, anyone who does those things and studies or knows dark magic's." He replied, talking slowly and thoughtfully. "And of course is very powerful."

The Titans thought for a moment. "We have a friend whose recently been having these nightmares, and they're getting worse. Do you know anyone who could be doing this to her or how we could stop these nightmares." Robin explained and asked unsure of how trustworthy this guy was.

"You wouldn't want to find whoever is casting this curse. Not if you want to live. As to stopping it, there is a way but…"

"But what?" Starfire asked.

He placed both his hands on the counter and leaned toward them. "You say your friend knows magic. For someone who knows good and strong magic as she does, it would take someone very very powerful to be able to place a strong curse on her." He said with a wide smile.

Robin narrowed his eyes. He hadn't told him that Raven knew magic. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." Robin said.

The young man turned his head to him. "It's Elathan." He said smiling widely. He turned away and ruffled through drawers near his desk. He carefully picked up a few small things, apparently fragile. "This should stop the nightmares." He said placing the objects on the desk. There was a vial of bleached sand, a dried and curled black flower, and another vial filled with a light blue liquid. "All you have to do is mix these together, be sure to crush the flower. Then feed it to your friend. If it doesn't help bring her here."

"I've never seen a flower like this." Robin said suspiciously. He had never seen something like it. It seemed like it had been dried, but it almost seemed as though it had grown that way.

"It's incredibly rare. Probably because of it's supernatural qualities it possesses."

"And you going to give us this incredibly rare plant to help someone you don't know." Cyborg said raising an eyebrow.

"I live to help people. It might as well be used rather than just sit in my shop for years on end."

"Thanks for the help," Robin said darkly picking up the vials and the flower.

"Anytime," Elathan said waving his hand in a dreamy manner as the Titans left the shop.

**dun dun dun. what do you think of this elathan guy? How does he play into all of this? Hope you liked this installment. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry it's been a while. busy graduating and traveling to Germany. I've actually had this chapter done for some time I just never got around to putting it up. sorry.**

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Chapter Seven

On the way back to the tower, the Titans were quiet.

"Do you think this could work?" Cyborg said breaking the silence. He was gesturing to the two vials and flower Starfire was now holding.

"Can't be sure, but I don't trust him." Robin said, narrowing his eyes in thought.

The other two Titans were only slightly surprised. Cyborg didn't think he would just give away a rare plant so easily. Starfire didn't like the feeling she got from him and the general atmosphere of the store. For Robin it was how he knew Raven knew magic without any of them saying so. He also agreed with the other two's points.

"What are we going to do?" Cyborg asked.

Robin sighed. "Hopefully Raven will be awake when we get home or at least soon. We'll ask her if she knows anything about Elathan or whether this stuff will help." Cyborg nodded and they returned to their silence.

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Beast Boy sat next to Raven's bed, filled with unsaid worry. The Titans had left a little over an hour ago, Raven state hadn't changed as far as Beast Boy could observe. Nothing seemed to help. He tried talking to her, he even sang, but the only thing that gave him comfort was to hold her hand. She would squeeze his hand, unintentionally of course, but it helped Beast Boy know he was there for her, and who knows, maybe it did help, but she didn't stir, didn't wake, just continued on with her relentless nightmare.

A sound suddenly and quietly escaped Raven's lips.

Beast Boy suddenly perked up. He thought he knew what she had said, but dismissed it as being impossible. She had just whispered his name if he had heard her correct. Her hand suddenly tightened, squeezing his hand harder than before.

Beast Boy's eyes darted back and forth looking for any other signs of conciousness. "I'm right here Rae." He said squeezing her hand back.

Her eyes opened quickly, then almost shut again, squinting against the sudden light. "Beast Boy?" Raven said in a shaky voice.

"Raven, are you okay?" Beast boy asked quickly.

Raven pushed herself up into a sitting position, her hand clutching her head. "My head. I …" Raven stopped closing her eyes again. A short grunt of pain sounded quietly.

Beast Boy was about to try and comfort her pain with his words, when the door opened letting in the other three Titans.

"Good she's awake." Robin said striding across the room to Raven's bed, the others following right behind him. "Raven, I met someone who says this can help you," he said holding out two vials and a black flower. "I'm not sure he can be trusted. I need you to tell us if these would help or only make things worse."

Raven opened her eyes with effort, hand still clutching her head. She had a hard time focusing on what the objects were, faces blurred and colors mixed. She could hardly make sense of anything, mind mixing thoughts and making it impossible to think straight let alone answer Robin's vital question. "I…" Was all she could get out before losing track of what she wanted to say.

"Raven!" He said, "I need an answer!" He said moving the three objects closer to her. "Concentrate."

Raven looked into his eyes, or really his mask.

"What's going on?" Beast boy asked worried Robin was overwhelming Raven.

Robin ignored his question but calmed his voice. "Raven, will this help you?"

Raven looked at the objects trying to figure out which object would do what, she couldn't concentrate on the answer as to how they would effect her all together, but the flower…"No!" She yelled recognizing the black flower Robin held in his hand.

Robin threw the objects in Cyborg's direction, he caught them out of pure reflex and handed them to Starfire who stared at them not knowing what to do with them.

Robin leaned in closer to Raven who had closed her eyes again and laid back down, still awake, but who knew for how long. "Raven," He said softly, "does the name Elathan mean anything to you?"

Raven snapped her eyes back open and turned her face to him. She looked exhausted. She wanted to tell them the truth, Everything she knew, but…

She looked away. "No." she replied softly pain in her head fading quickly, but a sick feeling replaced it in the pit of her stomach. Her hand fell away from her head. "Why do you ask?" She asked sitting up.

"He's the one who gave us those things," he said gesturing to Starfire who still held the objects. "He said they would cure the nightmares. What would they really do?"

"Not what he said they would," Raven replied.

Robin twisted around and started for the door. "I knew there was something off about that guy. Titans, let's go!" He said. "I have a feeling he might be behind this."

Cyborg and Starfire followed, Starfire finally getting rid of the weird objects on a side table next to one of the beds. Beast Boy stood in place unsure of whether to go and help or to stay with Raven.

"Go help them, I have a feeling they'll need you." Raven encouraged feeling slightly better.

"But," Beast Boy half heartedly protested. He wanted to catch whoever was doing this to Raven.

"I'll be fine. I feel a lot better already. I'll just make myself some food. I haven't eaten in a while." When he didn't move, she continued. "Go! I'll still be here when you get back."

Beast Boy gave her a quick smile before chasing after his Teammates. The sick feeling that had started in Raven's stomach grew ten times worse with the lie she had just told. She knew what had to be done.

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The four Titans hastily made their way back to the strange store to confront Elathan. They came to the building, but what they had seen just an hour ago was all gone. The door was boarded up and inside was nothing but a few rats and empty boxes. It was as if it had never existed.

The Titans, confused and angry, returned back to the tower.

"Are you sure it was there?" Beast boy asked, not quite sure his friends were in their right mind.

"We're sure." Robin said angrily making his way to the med bay. "Maybe Raven has some ideas as to how it could be done." He said as the door opened. Raven wasn't there.

"She must be doing more research in her room." Cyborg suggested. She wasn't there either.

Raven was nowhere to be found.

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**What do you guys think happened to Raven? Chapter eight is almost done and will hopefully be up much sooner.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Here is the next installment. Hope you enjoy!**

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Chapter Eight

Raven never wanted to leave, but under her conditions she had to. She owed it to her friends, and herself. She told herself it wouldn't be for very long, but that was more of a hope than reality. She had no idea how long it would take, but she would take as much time as needed to do what she had to do.

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Not long after they realized she was missing did they find her communicator and tracking device in her room next to a small note that read 'I'm safe. Don't look for me. I will be back.' _Will _was emphasized with multiple lines underneath signed Raven. The objects Elathan had given the Titans were missing as well although the titans didn't notice.

"What should we do?" Starfire asked, all eyes turning to Robin for an answer.

Robin looked into each of their worried faces, and sighed. He tossed ideas back and forth in his head, weighing his options carefully. "We wait." He didn't like the decision he came to, but it was most logical. "We will give Raven a week to come back, if she's not back by this time next week, we'll start searching."

Everyone protested at his words, but Robin wouldn't budge on the subject. Beast Boy argued the longest and let his anger show but, like the others, he gave up. The reasons that won Robin over to make his decision to wait were simple. Raven had told them to, and they really had no other leads as to where she could be. There was the added fact that maybe she was safer. Another contributing factor was that they had plenty on their plates already: the mystery of the symbol on their enemies chests, the whereabouts of Elathan, and to figure out how Raven fit into all of this.

Having to work at these mysteries was no fun. Everyone just wanted to wait for Raven to come back, expecting her to pop into the room as if she was never gone. No one wanted to do anything, but it was good for them. It kept their mind off it all. Made it seem like time was flying by instead of the crawl it would be just waiting, watching the seconds tick by.

They started with the mysterious symbols. They cautiously went into Raven's room and searched her books. It went a lot quicker with four people. After an hour Robin left the three to deal with the symbol while he worked on figuring out where Elathan was. Robin started where he first met Elathan. All he figured out was that it had been abandoned for months and that no one, especially not recently, had had any dealing with the place.

Robin stood in the middle of the dusty and undisturbed room where he knew he had met Elathan. Robin grew frustrated with himself for not being able to figure anything out, the absence of Raven only adding to his trouble. She was always understanding and could usually solve things when he couldn't. But she wasn't there, and he forced her from his mind and concentrated on new avenues of pursuit. He was getting nowhere when his communicator went off. He snatched it up quickly answering with a short greeting, if it could be called that.

"Robin, get back here," came Cyborg's voice. "We found something."

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Raven looked at the black flower in her hand. She had already disposed of the contents within the two vials. The flower was from another dimension where nothing lived a little grew. The flower she held now had the power to poison every human on the earth. Although the flowers poison didn't kill, it simply took away everything else leaving you a vegetable and so near death that loosing one drop of blood _would_ kill you. Robin had mentioned Elathan, a name she recognized but couldn't quite place. It was itching at the back of her mind as to how she knew that name, whoever it was had no good wishes for her. Raven only hoped he would leave her friends alone, whoever he was.

Raven stared at the flower a few more seconds before dropping it into the fire. She had traveled halfway across the country to a small town that populated more trees than humans. She had set up a rugged camp a mile or two from most civilization, but didn't plan on staying put. She had made plans, and she had no intention of staying away for long.

XXXXXXX

Robin ran into Ravens room to find the three titans hunched over a small battered book.

"What have you found?" He demanded as he crossed the room.

Cyborg looked up. "We're not entirely sure. It's in some language none of us have ever seen before, but the symbol is here." He said handing over the open book.

Robin took it and glared at the page. The symbol was there, it stood out at the top of the page, the mysterious language scrawled below. It looked hand written, or at least parts of it did. Little notes had been added here and there connecting to other sentences with faded lines.

"What do we do now?" Beast Boy asked.

Robin looked up for a second and looked back at the book, thinking. "Did any other books have this same language?" He asked flipping through more of the pages.

"Not that I know of." Cyborg replied.

Robin turned to Beast Boy. Beast Boy shrugged his shoulders.

Starfire didn't reply.

"Starfire? Did you find any books with this language?" Robin asked directly.

Starfire looked up and shook her head. "No, not exactly." She said softly.

Robin looked at her, confused, when suddenly she jumped off the bed and walked over to Raven's closet, flinging open the doors. She floated a few inches off the ground and riffled through some clothes and boots until she found what she was looking for. She floated back to the ground and turned around holding a small box intricately designed with gold and black.

"What is that?" Robin asked as she walked back over to them.

Starfire sat down on the floor and gently placed the box on the floor. "Raven told me a year ago that if ever there was a problem dealing with magic and she was unable to help us, that I was to use this, but only in an emergency. I don't know if this qualifies as an emergency though."

"But what's in it?" Beast Boy asked as they all gathered behind her, kneeling down to look closer at the box.

Starfire shrugged.

Robin reached towards the box. "Let's find out, shall we."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**Wondering what's in there? try and guess. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry it's been a while. I just started college and stuff so bear with me. I think this story is almost over though so enjoy it while it lasts I suppose. **

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

Chapter Nine

Robins hand nearly opened the box when another hand stopped him. He looked up. Starfire was holding his hand just inches away from the lid. Robin looked incredulously at her for a moment. She looked straight. He struggled to more closer, but she didn't budge or loosen her grip.

"Uh, Star?" He asked. Starfire released him and he retracted his arm.

Starfire turned towards him. "She told _me_ to open it."

"Sorry, I didn't realize you wanted to open it so badly." Robin replied.

"No, I just mean that she confided this in me. Maybe for a reason." Starfire replied.

"What do you mean?" Beast Boy asked.

"Maybe there's some sort of spell on it that she's allowing for only me to get past and perhaps if one of you were to open it you might turn into dust or sprout some sort of disease or-"

"I think we get the picture," Robin said stopping her babble. "Go on and open it."

Starfire didn't move.

The three boys waited in silence for her to move, but she remained.

"Uh Star?" Beast Boy being most impatient broke the silence.

Starfire looked at him, eyes wide and innocent. "Yes Beast Boy?"

"Aren't you going to open it?" Cyborg answered for him.

"Oh! Is that why you've been waiting?" Starfire asked truly surprised.

"What else?" Robin asked.

Starfire blushed. "I am sorry, I did not explain. I think I must open it _alone_."

The three boys stared at her blankly for a minute, then, wordlessly, got up and left the room. Starfire sighed once the door closed, built up her courage and opened the box.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Raven had had to leave. She realized something terrible was happening within her. Those strange feelings she had been having were part of her newfound power. A power to feel the emotions of others and control them. She couldn't be sure how long she had had these powers and how much they had effected her friends. Would they be her friends were it not for this power? What if she was making them do things they never wanted to. What if… there were just too many what ifs and she couldn't control it. So that's why she left. To control this horrid power and lock it away forever.

Raven took a deep breath. It was time to start her training. Her plan was not difficult to come up with. All she did was base her training on how the monks of Azarath had trained her to control her other powers. Only problem was she didn't have the monks to practice on. This troubled her for some time until a snake slithered across her path. An idea formed and she followed the snake.

The snake stopped a few feet from her camp, and Raven took a deep breath. She felt for the emotions of the snake and felt nothing. She tried harder, staring, concentrating. Still nothing as it hid in a nearby bush. Raven silently sat down on a rock and stared at the snake, barely visible from beneath the bush. Another idea occurred to her and she felt what emotions she was feeling. Frustration, anger, sadness, hope. She concentrated on sadness pushing those feelings towards the snake. Nothing happened. The frustration within her disappeared and despair took it's place.

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Starfire opened the box quickly and jumped back, closing her eyes, expecting something to jump out at her, but nothing did. She opened one eye, then the other. Realizing nothing was going to attack her she leaned over the box. Inside was a journal, a ring with JL in the middle, a piece of paper and a small stone. On the small piece of paper, Starfire saw her name and immediately pulled that out.

_Starfire, _

_If you are reading this, it means I am not there to help you. As I have instructed you, you should only be reading this is something related to magic is going wrong and I am not there. If either of these conditions are not met, close this box now and put it back immediately. If it is so, I'm sorry I am not there to help, but hopefully something in this box will help you._

_If it is 'end of the world' kind of danger, then use the ring. To activate it, put it on your finger and ask for help. Only if it's end of the world. If it is less imposing than that but still something you can't handle, use the stone. Place it in the palm of your hand, say the words "Azarath akani batan aten hep, " then toss it away. If neither of these things can help you, nothing can. I wish you luck my dear friend._

_Sincerely,_

_Raven_

Starfire put down the paper and picked up the stone warily. Raven hadn't said what would happen if she used either one of those items and wasn't so sure she wanted to learn, but it had to be done. Starfire closed her hand around the stone and repeated the words written in the letter.

"Azarath akani batan aten hep." she said slowly and clearly, praying she got the pronunciations correct.

She then tossed the stone gently away from her where it fell to the carpeted floor and started to glow a deep purple. Starfire stood up and took a step towards the glowing stone. Suddenly the light within it intensified until it filled the whole room, blinding Starfire momentarily. When Starfire opened her eyes again, a woman stood there stone now in her hand. She had long black hair and beautiful blue eyes. She wore a top hat and fishnet leggings and overall looked like a magician, albeit a very beautiful magician. Everything about her was pleasant, except the look on her face. A sneer rested on her lips like she smelt something disgusting and her eyes were hard and cold.

The mysterious woman looked Starfire up and down. "Who are you?" She asked in a silky smooth voice.

"I am Starfire," she said. "Who might you be?"

"I am Zatana. How did you get this." She said raising the stone in her hand. "This is strictly a Sentinels of Magic item, and I don't think you are authorized for it's use."

"I got it from Raven, she told me how to use it if…"

"If what?" Zatana asked, bored. When Starfire didn't answer immediately, she continued. "Look, I don't know how you know Raven, but I suggest you stay away from her. She's dangerous."

Starfire found her voice at this and said, "Raven is my friend and she told me to use that stone if we needed help and she wasn't around."

"Where is the witch?" She asked raising an eyebrow with disinterest.

"We don't know. Will you please help us?"

"What is it you need?" She asked finally caving in.

Starfire showed her the book with the symbol. "We need to know what this means." Starfire said.

Zatanna looked at it and took it from Starfire's hands reading as she walked over to Raven's bed and sat down. After a few minutes she closed the book and threw it on the bed. "Why do you want to know what that means?" She asked, obviously unwilling to give up her information without good cause.

"We fought someone with that symbol on his chest. It seemed to give him powers or something." Starfire explained poorly, tugging at her hair.

"Well, that symbol doesn't give anyone powers." Zatana said resigned to help.

"What does it do then? We've never seen him do anything like that…"

"It allows for one to control somebody else. Whoever was controlling him had that power. I suppose it's almost like possession. When he took control, his powers took over as well. That would explain the newfound powers." Zatana said. Starfire nodded. "I must warn you though. Whoever can do magic that powerful is a dangerous person. I know few people who could pull that off, and Raven is one of them. Maybe you should consider her as a possible-"

"It wasn't Raven." Starfire hissed slowly. "I think it's time you leave. My patience with you is thinning. I do not appreciate people who are so mean to my friends." She said with glaring eyes and a low voice.

Zatanna just shrugged, snapped her finger, and was gone.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**For those of you who know and like Zatanna I don't really think of her like this. I just know that Raven tried to join the Justice League and was rejected because Zatanna said so. So I figured there was bad blood and she is somewhat an expert on magic. hope you enjoyed this chapter. Who knows how long it could be until I get another one up. **


	10. Chapter 10

**So, thanks for the reviews and stuff. To answer a few questions: Yes this will be a BB/Rae story, Its just that she's not exactly been there to interact with him or vice versa. I will make it happen though. **

**Another point brought up is that the past couple of chapters have been boring. I apologize and feel bad that I wasn't able to keep it interesting. I don't know that this chapter will be all that much better, but the next one will be for sure. Sorry about that.**

**And finally about the JL ring. It has been brought to my attention that she wasn't trying to actually join the Justice League but was seeking their help. I still think they might have given her a ring just in case though. Thanks for the correction!**

**Sorry this is a long authors note, but here is the story and hopefully I can pick up the pace and make it more interesting in the future. This chapter is mostly about Raven since we've been focusing mostly on the teen titans. Anyway. I'll let you read.**

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Chapter Ten

Raven had been meditating for hours, clearing her mind. The nightmares had ceased, but sleep still evaded her. When she stopped she felt more put together more at peace, but still feeling despair deep within herself. She sat on a rock and stared at a rock. Without realizing it she levitated the rock, spinning it around playfully. She thought of Tara who had had trouble controlling her powers.

"How did she do it, and so quickly…" Raven thought out loud letting the rock rest in the palm of her hand. Tara had gone to Slade for help. For some reason Raven couldn't imagine Slade being patient and encouraging, but perhaps he talked her through it somehow. _Who knows…_Raven thought. She started twirling the rock around again. As she fluidly tossed the rock through space she thought about how hard this had been for her years ago back in azarath…

"_Concentrate Raven, you have the power within you. You decide when to let it out." The monk calmly told her. His name was Alta. _

_Raven tried again, but the pebble would not move. Raven frowned. "I'm sorry, I just can't do it. It's impossible." The nine year old raven replied._

_The monk sat down next to her on the warm colored stone. "Close you eyes Raven." Raven complied. "Take a deep breath…listen to the world around you. Not just my voice. Listen to the water from the fountain, listen to the wind rustling the tress. Pick out these sounds… Feel the sun, the stone beneath you stretch what you can feel. Create you surroundings within your mind. Now focus all that energy that is paying attention to the sounds, the sun, and turn it to the pebble. Block out everything else and just imagine the rock rising from the ground…" _

_Raven did all this and when she opened her eyes, the pebble was at her eye level. Alta was smiling a peaceful smile. "All you have to do is find your peace in everything around you, and the power will come for you. Once you allow it to flow through you, you will easily learn to control it. It's just a matter of letting it come." _

Raven was surprised how clearly the memory had come. The stone was again at her eye level. She felt sad remembering what she had lost, yet a peace over came her with the memory.

"I just have to let it come…" Raven said aloud to herself.

She took in a slow and peace filled breath. She closed her eyes and felt around for a living creature. She found two. The snake from before and a rabbit it was tracking down. She focused all her energy on everything around her, the sound of the leaves rustling, of her own breathing, and she felt what they were feeling. She could sense the rabbits rapid heart and the steady slither of the snake. She then concentrated all her energy on those two animals. She felt more, she felt the rabbits fear and caution. She felt the snakes hunger and eagerness. Another deep breath. Raven focused on the peace within herself, she let it go. She let it slip into the snake and rabbit. The languid peace that makes you almost tired and relaxed and… happy. She let it go and they felt it. She pushed curiosity and made some noises with a stick. They came slowly and unafraid. They noticed each other, but quickly ignored the other with curiosity for the strange girl sitting on a log. They came closer.

"It's alright." She whispered. "I wont hurt you." They came close enough to touch.

Raven reached out a hand to each and gently petted them. Each never felt fear, only a deeper peace and happiness. The Rabbit settled in her lap and the snake gently wrapped itself around Raven's leg.

"Peace, little ones. The dawn is coming."

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Starfire after talking with Zatanna reported to the rest of the team what she had learned, although she didn't tell them what was in the box or how she acquired such information. Only that it was successful. The others pressed for answers briefly, but gave up and resigned to have finally learned something.

They were all about to celebrate with pizza when they heard an explosion. They weren't conscious long after that.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After another day of practicing, Raven finally felt ready to go home. She was glad to go home and even more so to have finally taken control of her new power. She wasn't perfect, but it was controllable now.

She teleported into the commons area and was immediately aware of the gaping hole in the wall and general state of disarray. Her blood ran cold with worry for her friends. Immediately she searched for them, and came up empty handed. She worried how long ago this had happened, where they were, if they were alright…That's when she noticed the note carved into the wall.

_I've taken your friends. Come find them at Pier 23 if you wish to see them again. I await your arrival._

That was all it said. Raven without a second thought left for pier 23.

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**Hope it wasn't too dull. It probably was. But action will ensue in the future chapter! **


End file.
